Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque was cited for contempt by the House quad-committee (quad-comm) on Thursday night Aug. 22 for lying to the special four-way joint panel.
As a penalty, Roque was ordered detained at the House of Representatives for 24 hours.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/22/house-cites-harry-roque-for-contempt-slapped-with-24-hour-detention
As a penalty, Roque was ordered detained at the House of Representatives for 24 hours.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/22/house-cites-harry-roque-for-contempt-slapped-with-24-hour-detention
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. Chair, in our last hearing on August 16, Friday, in Pampanga, Secretary Roque was invited
00:08by the Squad Committee.
00:10Attorney Harry Roque sent a letter dated August 13, 2024 addressed to the Honorable Chairman
00:16Robert S. Barbers, the lead chairman, informing Chair Barbers that he will not be able to
00:25participate in said meeting due to conflict with a previously scheduled court hearing
00:31before the Regional Trial Court of Manila on August 16, 2024, the same date of our Squad
00:37Committee hearing.
00:39I have here a copy of that particular letter.
00:42Mr. Chair, we have also in receipt here a copy of certification from Attorney Jennifer
00:48H. de la Cruz Buendia, clerk of court and ex-officio sheriff of Manila, RTC Manila,
00:57stating that Attorney Harry Roque has no hearing on August 16 and did not appear in the courts
01:04of Manila on said date.
01:07Mr. Chair, I hate to say it, but clearly Attorney Harry Roque, our former secretary and my former
01:15professor, law professor, lied to this committee, and that amounts actually to disrespect of
01:21the members of the committee, which is contemptible under Section 11E of the rules of the House
01:26of Representatives on inquiries in aid to legislation.
01:30I therefore move, Mr. Chair, that Attorney Harry Roque be cited for contempt for disrespecting
01:35the members of this committee when he lied in order to evade attending the hearing of
01:42this committee where he was invited.
01:44So moved, Mr. Chair.
01:51I did not quite hear what you said, Congressman Salo.
01:54Can you please repeat, are you moving for the committee to cite Mr. Attorney Harry Roque
02:02in contempt?
02:03Yes, Mr. Chair, pursuant to Section 11E of the rules of the House of Representatives
02:09in aid of legislation.
02:12So moved, Mr. Chair.
02:14One-minute suspension.
02:15Before we vote on the contempt, we would like to hear first the explanation of the reason
02:26behind his absence to this committee last year.
02:31Thank you, Your Honor.
02:32I was hoping to be given an opportunity to be heard.
02:35It was an honest mistake, Your Honor.
02:38I have also been a member of this chamber.
02:41We don't hold hearings on Fridays.
02:45So when I saw the notice of hearing, I assumed that just like the first and the second hearing
02:51where I attended, that it would be on a Thursday.
02:55And that is true, that I had a hearing both in the morning and in the afternoon.
03:00And that is why I sent that letter.
03:03By the time I realized that it was a Friday and there was, in fact, a hearing, it was
03:08also close already to lunchtime, and the hearing was in Pampanga.
03:15So I apologize for the honest mistake, but the truth of the matter is I have been here
03:22on Thursdays, so two hearings already, and I just assumed that just like in the past
03:29where we don't hold hearings on a Friday, that the hearing would be on a Thursday, as,
03:33in fact, today is also a Thursday.
03:36So it was an instance of, okay, there's a hearing, it's on Thursday again, and I have
03:41a hearing on Thursday.
03:42That's why I sent the letter right away, not even realizing that 16 is a Friday.
03:48That was an honest mistake.
03:51Had I had any intentions not to appear, I would not have appeared today as well.
03:56But in the first two instances, and those were the two instances where I was invited,
04:00I, in fact, appeared.
04:02I have no wish to disrespect the very same body of which I was a part of, which I consider
04:10at some point in time as my happy place, in fact, the House of Representatives.
04:15Thank you, Your Honors.
04:16Your assumption is wrong?
04:17Yes, it is wrong.
04:18And therefore, when you assume that it is wrong, you should be ready for the consequences.
04:25Isn't that how it should be?
04:28Yes, but there was no intent to disrespect this chamber.
04:33I'm not asking whether you have the intent.
04:34What I'm asking is, if you assume that it is wrong, shouldn't you accept the consequences?
04:43I will, of course, accept the consequences, the decision of this body.
04:48But since I was given an opportunity to be heard, I thought that there should be allowance
04:52for honest mistakes.
04:55I know that you have been practicing as a lawyer for a long time, isn't that so?
05:07Yes, Your Honor.
05:09And as a practicing lawyer, all of your schedules are set.
05:16For example, for the week, what is your hearing for the week, what is your appointment, it
05:21is all set, isn't that so?
05:23That is true.
05:24That is why, for the certificate, I really have a hearing on Thursday.
05:28And my assumption is wrong that the next hearing is not on Thursday because we are all on Thursday.
05:35What you mean to say is that it is not in your schedule that you should attend a hearing
05:40on Friday, on Friday?
05:42Yes, I put it on Thursday because our hearing is every Thursday.
05:47And then, as it is, all of you are at fault.
05:52None.
05:53Yes, but there is no intention to disrespect the Chamber.
05:59I am not questioning your intention.
06:01I am just questioning, as a practicing lawyer, what I know is that your lawyers are writing
06:08all of their schedules.
06:12In your case, if that event is in your book of schedules, you should know.
06:23To be honest, because I thought it was Thursday, I saw that the morning after my hearing,
06:28I immediately wrote to inform the committee as soon as possible because I really thought
06:33it was Thursday.
06:34Atty. Roque, many people have died because of wrong assumptions.
06:41Kindly bear that in mind.
06:43First person, Atty. Harry Roque, was cited in contempt for violating Section 11, Paragraph
06:51E of our rules.
06:54And after the contempt, the next, the proper motion is to follow Section 12, which speaks
07:06of the penalty.
07:08Is there any motion?
07:14Congressman Salo?
07:15Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
07:17Mr. Chair, and to this Honorable Committee, in consideration of the fact that the resource
07:22person, former Secretary Harry Roque, is my former law professor, fellow Cabayan Partylist
07:31Representative, and a former member of this House of Representatives, and in consideration
07:36also of his claim for honest mistake, and of course, the apologies that he has given
07:42to this committee.
07:43And finally, in consideration of personal relations, as he has mentioned a while ago
07:47that he was my Ninong, respectfully move, Mr. Chair, that the penalty be given be shortened
07:54to the barest minimum, which is just one day or 24 hours, Mr. Chair.
07:59Second the motion, Mr. Chair.
08:01There is a motion.
08:02Julie seconded to impose a penalty of 24 hours to our resource person, Atty. Harry Roque.
08:11Hearing no objection, the motion is carried.
08:16One minute suspension.
08:34Hearing is resumed.
08:41Congressman Abante.
08:44Mr. Chair, may I continue the interpolation here?
08:49And I would like to interpolate only Ms. Paterna and Ms. Macarenas.
08:56Okay.
08:57Before that, Congressman Abante, the ruling has been made on the contempt order of this
09:05committee to our resource person, Atty. Harry Roque, and imposing a penalty of 24 hours
09:12detention in the detention facility of the House of Representatives.
09:17After the committee hearing, may we ask Atty. Harry Roque to, at the LSB or the SAAD,
09:28the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, to assist Atty. Harry Roque to his detention center.
09:37Thank you, Mr. Chair.
09:39I would like to move for reconsideration.
09:41It is not the severity of penalty, but the deprivation of liberty that I am appealing from.
09:47I believe that the right to liberty is amongst the most important of basic human rights,
09:52and there being no showing that there was an actual lying, but an honest mistake,
09:57and there was no actual disrespect as evidenced by the fact that I have appeared
10:01three times out of the four invitations,
10:04I believe that any form of punishment by way of deprivation of liberty is unwarranted.
10:11Thank you, Mr. Chair.
10:13Thank you, Atty. Harry Roque.
10:14Let it be of record that Atty. Harry Roque is asking for a reconsideration
10:20on the contempt orders that the committee has issued.
10:26Under our rules, there must be, again, another vote on this,
10:33and since there is no motion to vote,
10:35we will have to wait for the time that,
10:40when we resume in our next hearing,
10:43we will probably consider the reconsideration,
10:47motion for reconsideration of Atty. Harry Roque.